from the day he could walk
by AlwaysPadfoot
Summary: Charlie was never interested in soulmates - only creatures. PlatonicSoulmate!AU


**AN:** Prompts will be displayed at the bottom to avoid them potentially giving away things.

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 **from the day he could walk**

 **AlwaysPadfoot**

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From the day he could walk, Charlie loved to feed the chickens with his mum.

Then, when he grew taller, he started tending to the owls as they perched in the hut that his dad had built.

When he was nine, Charlie took in an injured feral cat. Under the watchful eye of his mother, he tended to its wounds and nursed it back to health. The cat never left, but it only trusted him for over a year.

Mum told him that his soulmate must also be good with animals. Charlie had shrugged. Love wasn't interesting, but creatures were.

In first year, even though he wasn't able to take _Jet_ — the feral cat — with him to Hogwarts, Charlie never found himself without an animal to fuss. Cats roamed the Gryffindor tower and the Owlery was always filled with hundreds of feathered birds.

When second year came around, he became fascinated with the Forbidden Forest. Though it was against the rules to enter, rumour had it, that it was filled with creatures. Already devastated that he had to wait until next year to take Care of Magical Creatures, Charlie made it his personal mission to explore the forest.

On his fifth visit to the forest, Hagrid — the gamekeeper at Hogwarts — saved him from an acromantula he'd disturbed. Shaken but thankful, Hagrid took Charlie back to his hut and gave him hot tea to calm him down.

"This won't stop me from going into the forest," Charlie admitted to the half-giant.

Hagrid didn't let him leave until he promised to only go into the forest with him.

Charlie promised.

In third year, Charlie started what fast became his favourite class, Care of Magical Creatures. Professor Kettleburn was a visionary — a man who dedicated his life (and limbs) to the study of creatures. His classes were fascinating, and even though other students laughed at his eccentricities, Charlie clung to every word.

It turned out that Hagrid was also a big fan of Kettleburn. The man spoke highly of him when Charlie accompanied him into the forest.

As Charlie grew, his fondness for creatures also deeper. With Kettleburn as his teacher and Hagrid as his companion when they ventured into the forest, Charlie learnt more than he ever imagined he would. He received top grades in Kettleburn's classes — something rumoured to be near impossible.

Whilst people told him he could play Quidditch for England, Charlie had other plans.

In the March of his final year, the eighteen-year-old Weasley received the letter he'd been waiting for months to arrive. The wax stamp on the back took the shape of fire and he knew immediately this was either a rejection letter or an acceptance one.

Keen to share it with the man who's allowed him to venture into the forest and learn so much, Charlie sprinted from the Great Hall and out into the grounds.

He opened it with baited breath at Hagrid's kitchen table.

"I'm in," he whispered. "I'm in, Hagrid!"

Charlie automatically jumped to his feet and hugged Hagrid. The man lifted him off his feet and engulfed him in a hug too.

"I'm so proud of yer, yer deserve it, Charlie," Hagrid said.

Charlie could cry he was so happy.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Hagrid."

Charlie wrote regularly to Hagrid after he left Hogwarts sending stories and photos of his work in Romania. He even had the chance to visit when, somehow, the half-giant got his hands on a dragon egg. The Weasley had been quite surprised that Hagrid had managed to look after the Norwegian Ridgeback.

After all, he knew from experience now, the young dragons needed the most experienced of handler. Somehow Hagrid had coped probably about as well as Charlie would have on his own. That fact had dwelled on his mind a lot for the weeks that followed, but eventually, it was forgotten amongst dragon facts and long exhausting days.

After the battle of Hogwarts, Charlie stayed to help with the clear up, desperate to occupy his mind to detract from his grief of losing a brother.

Hagrid had decided to rebuild his hut on the grounds, and when Charlie realised he was doing it alone, he immediately offered his help. Hagrid tried to tell him it was okay, that his hut wasn't as important, but Charlie insisted. Besides, everything Hagrid could do, he could do too. Therefore they made quite the team in reconstructing a bigger, and more appropriately sized, hut for Hagrid to dwell in.

Eventually, a few weeks after the battle, Charlie went back to Romania. Neither he nor Hagrid ever fell in love; both of them were content with what their lives already had to offer. The only constant in their lives were one another, no day was the same for adventurers like them.

They never lost touch.

Charlie sent tales of dragons and Hagrid sent him scrawled letters about pets he seemed to acquire and the students that visited him occasionally. When they could make time for it, they visited one another, but even without spending time together, their bond was stronger than ever.

Eventually, when the time came that Hagrid passed away, Charlie travelled back to the UK and made all the arrangements for his funeral.

And when the day came that Charlie had to stand by Hagrid's grave, he closed his eyes and said goodbye.

To his mentor.

To his friend.

To his soulmate.

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 **Comps and Prompts**

 **Drabble Game:** Day 23 - You share talents with your soulmate... So if they are really good at something, you'll be really good at it too.

 **LiM:** Crack — Hagrid/Charlie

 **IHC:** 632\. Creature - Acromantula

 **365:** 212\. Plot Point - Getting a letter from someone important

 **Word Count** : 912


End file.
